WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The Mid-America Christian men's basketball team saw its Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament run come to an end on Friday night as a late surge by second-seeded No. 24 Southwestern Assemblies of God propelled the Lions to a 90-83 win inside the Sheaffer Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Kendall Scott – 24 Points, 11-17 FG, 6 Reb
• Jasiah Lewis – 20 Points, 7-16 FG, 5-10 3FG, 6 Reb
• Tony Dorsey – 17 Points, 4-10 FG, 8-9 FT, 7 Assists, 5 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Half
  • Jasiah Lewis knocked down a three on a second chance on Mid-America Christian's first possession as the Evangels set the tone by opening on a 9-2 run as back-to-back scores by Kendall Scott made it a seven-point MACU advantage with 15:35 remaining.
  • A Keenan Gooden layup started a 9-2 SAGU surge as Joel Polius' lay-in with 13:30 to go tied it up at 11-all.
  • After Tony Dorsey and Nathan Bailey traded threes, the Evangels rattled off eight unanswered as a pair of threes by Carlos Slaughter and Lewis sandwiched a Quentin Woodson layup to make it a 22-14 MACU edge at the midway point.
  • A Noah Boling three with 9:25 left jumpstarted an 11-2 Lions run as a pair of Alerick Hall free throws at the 6:58 mark gave SAGU its first lead of the game at 25-24.
  • Dorsey took over the next two minutes as the senior guard converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession before knocking down four more foul shots during a seven-point streak, stretching the Evangels' edge to 31-25 with 5:31 left.
  • After holding a five-point cushion, the Lions streaked back out in-front with a six unanswered before the Evangels regained the lead by scoring five of the next seven featuring a pair of Scott lay-ins to make it a 39-37 game with 1:36 remaining.
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God closed out the half by scoring seven of the final nine points to take a 44-41 advantage into the halftime break.
• Second Half
  • Isaiah Boling's three right out of the gate set the tone for the Lions, as SAGU opened the second half with a 17-10 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game at 61-51 on a Joshua Kashila three with 16:13 remaining.
  • The Evangels clamped down over the next few minutes as MACU didn't allow a score before Kendall Scott's layup knocked the deficit back down to single-digits, but the Lions surged with six straight to take their largest lead of the game at 67-53 with 13:24 left on a Bailey layup.
  • Lewis ignited the Evangels offense with a pull-up jumpshot as MACU went on a 15-2 run as Woodson's foul shot with 7:23 to go brought it to a one-point game at 69-68.
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God tallied seven of the next nine, pushing its advantage out to 76-70 on an Isaiah Boling three with just under six minutes left.
  • Lewis was a one-man wrecking crew over the next two minutes, knocking down a trio of three-pointers during a 9-1 surge as his triple with 4:04 remaining put Mid-America Christian back in-front at 79-77.
  • Polius briefly tied it before Scott put the Evangels back in-front with his 22^nd point on a layup with 2:45 left.
  • Bailey put the Lions in-front for good with a three-ball on the ensuing possession to make it an 82-81 game.
  • Mid-America Christian struggled offensively down the stretch, mustering just two points in the final 2:45 as the Lions pulled away with the 90-83 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot well from the field, knocking down 31-for-69 (44.9 percent) from the floor and 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from three while converting a very efficient 12-for-14 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line.
• The Evangels struggled to slow down a red-hot Southwestern Assemblies of God offense that shot 33-of-68 (48.5 percent) from the field and a blistering 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from behind the arc. The Lions also knocked down an efficient 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
• SAGU was able to hold a slight 36-34 edge in the rebounding battle while the Lions committed just seven turnovers compared to 12 for the Evangels.
• Kendall Scott led the MACU offense as one of two players to break 20-plus points, scoring 22 points on 11-of-17 shooting and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
• Jasiah Lewis put together his best offensive performance of the season, scoring a season-high 20 points on 7-for-16 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from downtown while matching Scott with six boards.
• Tony Dorsey rounded out the double-digit scorers for MACU with 17 points on 4-of-10 shooting and a blistering 8-for-9 from the free throw line to go with a team-high seven assists and five rebounds.
• After splitting the season series with each team getting wins on the opposition's home court, Southwestern Assemblies of God was able to snap MACU's four-game win streak inside the Sheaffer Center.
• With the defeat, Mid-America Christian sees its regular season and SAC Tournament run come to an end, falling to 20-12 on the season while Southwestern Assemblies of God will advance to the SAC Semifinals after improving to 20-8. The Lions will play their semifinal match in the Gaulke Activity Center at 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28 against the winner of Saturday's Quarterfinal game between Oklahoma City and Central Christian.

NEXT UP

• With the Evangels sitting on the bubble, Mid-America Christian will now await to see if it will qualify for the NAIA National Championship Tournament with the Opening Rounds being played on Mar. 11-12. The Selection Show will be held on Thursday, Mar. 3 at 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the NAIA's Facebook and YouTube pages.